A Simple Gift
by doggieearlover
Summary: Post Manga Chapter 558: InuYasha and Kagome have been married for a year. A hot summer night leads to a confession and understanding.


Disclaimers: I do not own InuYasha or any of the manga/anime characters. They belong to the wonderful genius Rumiko Takahashi. I just enjoy making them play with each other.

AN: This was written as a Birthday Gift!fic for knittingknots, who also betas my work for me along with inufan625. And thank you very much to inufan625 for a wonderful job beta'ing, as always.

Knittingknots has already received this and liked it, so I hope that you will, too.

Prompt from knittingknots: _Hmmm__...something post-manga. Hot summer night. Full moon. Intimate. Maybe Inu has caught Kagome looking wistfully at Sango's babies or something (or maybe he thinks she's homesick) and one thing leads to another..._

**A Simple Gift**

Kagome couldn't sleep. Even though there was only a thin sheet covering her, she could feel the perspiration slowly seeping through her pores. She hated to admit it, but she just couldn't doze off when she was hot. Finally giving up her desperate plea for slumber, she eased off of the futon. She couldn't help but to smile as she looked down at her snoozing husband. InuYasha had been off to a neighboring village with Miroku, eradicating some troublesome youkai there. The two men had returned home late that afternoon and found Kagome helping Sango with her three children. After staying long enough to enjoy a meal together, the hanyou and miko had said goodnight and returned to their home.

The young miko sighed as she slipped her feet into her zori and then exited through the doorway. While the night air was stifling inside, she knew that wasn't the only thing keeping her awake. She wished that she could make her mind slow down and not try to process so many thoughts at once.

She knew if her husband found that she'd left the hut without her bow and arrows, he'd probably gently scold her for being careless. However, she wasn't planning to go far, and she felt safe in his forest. InuYasha patrolled it regularly to ensure there were no demons or other beasts that might be a threat to the village, and Kagome's powers were nothing to be trifled with. The few youkai that thought to make a name for themselves by hunting her or the inuhanyou found themselves the prey instead. If she didn't get them, InuYasha did. Word spread that InuYasha's Forest was not somewhere youkai looking for trouble wanted to visit if they wished to live.

Kagome found herself at Goshinboku and sat down in the thick grass near the base of the enormous tree. The ground was cool to the touch, and so she stretched out on her back and looked up into the maze of branches and leaves that spread out above her, backlit by the brilliant light of the full moon. She was thinking about how much the tree had meant in her life when she felt a familiar aura approach. She smiled and turned her head. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to wake you."

InuYasha took a seat next to her and picked up her hand to hold between his own. "Are you all right?"

The miko sat up. "Yeah, it was just so hot I couldn't sleep."

"Wouldn't it have been cooler to go down by the river?" he asked softly.

"I didn't want to go that far from the hut. Besides…" her voice trailed away.

The hanyou ran his thumb over her palm. "But that wasn't all… you needed to clear you mind and to think."

"When did you become so wise?" Kagome asked.

InuYasha shrugged. "Why do you think I've spent so much time up in this tree?"

They remained silent until the hanyou commented, "I've seen how you look at Sango and the kids."

"Sango is pregnant again." Kagome looked down and fiddled with the belt of her yukata.

"Kagome…" InuYasha started but his voice trailed away.

"I know how you feel. You don't want your child to grow up with the prejudices that you had to live with. You didn't know your father, and then your mother died when you were still little. InuYasha, we'll both be here for our child. Our baby will be loved." Kagome wiped away a tear that had escaped the corner of her eye.

The hanyou squeezed her hand. "I've been thinking about that."

Kagome looked up to meet his eyes. "Really?"

He nodded. "We've been wed for a year now. I never thought I'd be able to say this, but the villagers seem to accept it. I was afraid you would be shunned for marrying a hanyou, but they don't seem to mind. Well, what I mean is… if you really want to…"

The miko's face lit up. "InuYasha, I love you and want more than anything to have your child."

He leaned forward to cup her cheek in his hand as his lips sought hers. The kiss started out gentle with each pouring their love for the other into it. It became more heated as Kagome's hands began their familiar exploration of the hanyou's chiseled chest, allowing her fingers to trace the natural lines of the muscle as they made their way downward.

InuYasha continued to kiss her as he tugged the knot in her belt free and tossed it aside. Her yukata fell open, and he pushed it down from her shoulders until her arms and hands were clear.

Kagome lay back as her husband stood long enough to untie his hakama and kick them off. His silver hair and even his normally golden tan had an ethereal glow under the illumination of the full moon. She licked her lips in anticipation as he fell to his knees and moved between her thighs. Anxious to receive him, she reached forward to help guide him in as he moved over her. He sheathed himself inside of her in one smooth motion and then lowered his mouth to hers. He felt her nails dig into the muscles in his back as she gasped his name, urging him to completion. She cried out and arched her back as he quickened his pace just before he spilled himself inside of her. His mouth found hers for another soft kiss before he settled down on his forearms to keep from crushing her. He covered her face and throat with gentle kisses while they remained intimately connected.

Kagome smiled as her hands tenderly rubbed the hanyou's back. She had understood his hesitation and his fears, for she had seen some of the cruelty that humans could inflict upon others. She had also been happy to spend the past year with her husband. She had learned more about him, and he about her. At first she had felt a bit selfish, but then realized that wanting to have that quality time with InuYasha before the constant interruptions of a family became routine was something they both needed. They had a lot of catching up to do after their three year separation.

It would be the first of many times over the next few days that the couple would make love. No longer would they have to deprive themselves this pleasure when she was able to conceive. No longer would she be denied giving her beloved husband a child. Simple gifts are often the most precious, and InuYasha would finally have what she always knew he secretly desired even if he had been afraid – a family of his very own.


End file.
